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Chapter 6 - Songwriting as Learning

A Dialectical Perspective on Danish Rock Band Practice

from Part II - Learning Differences in Contemporary Cultural Practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2026

Marina V. França
Affiliation:
Federal University of Mato Grosso
Ana Maria R. Gomes
Affiliation:
Federal University of Minas Gerais
Dorte Kousholt
Affiliation:
Aarhus University
Jean Lave
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Line Lerche Mørck
Affiliation:
Aarhus University
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Summary

Composing music or writing a song is often conceived of as an individual endeavor. However, especially within popular music, many songs are written through detailed collaborative processes. This chapter reports a longitudinal empirical ethnographic study following two Danish rock bands working with new songs. The analyses unfold a number of intricate dialectical relations within such collective practices through integrated situated learning, theoretical, and music analytical perspectives: The ongoing developments of the music itself and parallel changes in the musicians’ participation are dialectically construed and construing. Mutual literacy within language as well as musical skills (knowledgeability) constitutes a pivotal analytic point. Also, the individual musician’s ability to evaluate his/her ways of participation (designated agency) plays an important part in establishing a satisfactory musical sensation, analysed as the music’s “aboutness” (Brinck 2021: 13). The study suggests that the ongoing changes of the songs and the ongoing changes of the musicians’ participation are dialectically construed.

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